Lucknow: The fire brand Chief Minister of UP Mayawati has openly warned the saffron brigade not to disturb the communal harmony in the state otherwise stern action will be taken against them. She has also clarified that Ram Mandir may be an issue for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but the state government has nothing to do with it. The UP government will abide by the court order and till then no one will be allowed to disturb the status quo there. She also clarified that her government will not take any initiative to start the dialogue between both the parties as its responsibility lies with the central government. She also warned that not only in Ayodhya but any where in the state if any individual howsoever powerful he may be or party tried to disturb the communal harmony her government will not hesitate in taking stern action against such elements. She also warned against the interference in government working. Mayawati has to come out openly on this sensitive issue as newly appointed state BJP (her coalition partner) chief also known as a fire brand protagonist of Hindutva Vinay Katiyar visited Ayodhya to have a darshan of Ram Lalla.

After performing certain religious rituals he addressed a press conference and declared that since his party high command is aware of his stand on Ram Temple issue and has appointed the state chief shows that my party's high command has accepted my agenda of building a grand Ram Temple at the disputed site. He said that he has three missions (1) Giving a grand shape to Ram temple which already exists at the disputed site (2) Bringing BJP to first position in UP (3) Protecting the respect and importance of BJP workers in the state. He also warned the bureaucracy not to forget that it is BJP, BSP coalition government and so BJP workers must not be ignored.

Actually from the very first day of her coronation Mayawati is losing no opportunity to humiliate BJP particularly former Chief Minister and legislature party leader Rajnath Singh. She is also playing one BJP leader against other. She took the sudden decision of reverting the reservation policy of former chief minister Rajnath Singh and when the party protested she disclosed that the suggestion was mooted by Om Prakash Singh another senior BJP leader and her cabinet colleague. She formed the coordination committee under her own chairpersonship and ignored senior BJP leaders including the then state chief Kalraj Misra and when objected upon she said that the state party chief of her own party has not been included in the committee.

Vinay Katiyar is the product of Ram Mandir movement who represents Faizabad/Ayodhya in parliament. He is the fire brand leader who never minces words in displaying his anti Muslim mindset. This is a credit to his style that he never veils his face like many champions of Hindutva. His animosity with Muslims is full and final. His appointment as the state BJP chief ignoring many senior leaders was a clear signal that the party is coming back to its old agenda of Hindutva with the construction of Ram temple as the main election plank in the forthcoming Parliamentary election. The second motive was to repay Mayawati in the same coin as both these leaders are known for their harsh and to some extent uncivilised language.

Katiyar started his innings with his famous style, but found a match in Mayawati. Her open warnings did the trick and Katiyar could not muster the courage to repeat what he has said in Ayodhya just one day before. Mayawati is known for her no nonsense approach in administration. BJP has seen her style in Mathura episode during her first innings. It may be noted that Vishwa Hindu Parishad decided to start some new ritual in Mathura where eidgah is their target. Mayawati ordered that if any body tries to cross a certain limit he should be shot. The police stood tough and many brave soldiers of Hindutva including Ashok Singhal, Vinay Katiyar himself couldn't muster the courage to come out of their hideout in Krishna temple. She repeated it in Varanasi also and did not permit jalabhishek (Hindu baptism) in Gyanvapi Masjid.
At the time of both these episodes she was running the government with the help of Bharatiya Janata Party and this is to her credit that she has not compromised on the issue of honest and impartial administration.

Mayawati may play any trick for coming to power but her temperament, her style of functioning, her no nonsense approach is unchangeable. BJP may be expecting any political benefit but she has her own calculations. She knows very well that Muslims play an important rather decisive role in shaping the political future and keeping them in good humour is her political expediency that is why she gave maximum seats to Muslim candidates. It is another thing that her hobnobbing with BJP is not liked by majority of Muslims but is not this a very interesting phenomenon that BJP sees helplessly that her own creation always becomes the main hurdle in its sinister designs. Once again BJP has decided to go back to its old agenda of Hindutva.

The elevation of Advani to the post of Deputy Premiership, keeping Modi in the saddle, appointment of Katiyar as the state chief in UP all are the pointer of future strategy of saffron brigade. The poor show in Ayodhya during recently held Purn Ahuti Yagna (total sacrifice celebration), defeat after defeat in elections have unnerved the BJP and it has decided to resort to temple issue and that is why Vishwa Hindu Parishad has announced not to abide by the court verdict, inspite of the written assurance. But Mayawati will emerge as the main hurdle in their scheme of things. Any misadventure by the saffron brigade in Ayodhya will definitely invite her wrath and if BJP will try to pull down her government she may issue notification to start the case against Deputy Prime Minister Advani, HRD minister MM Joshi and youth affairs minister Uma Bharati etc and this will definitely ruin their political career.

The BJP BSP coalition government in UP is like sleeping with the enemy . Both have started looking for opportune time to strike and it should surprise no one if the Mayawati government is brought down suddenly on the floor of the house during the budget session starting from 8th August thus not giving any chance to her to issue the "dangerous notification". But Mayawati is more unpredictable than any other UP politician.

PS. Mayawati's warning has worked and Katiyar has since shifted his priority from Ram Mandir to unemployment.q